RICCARDO di SAN GERMANO. - Author of a Chronica surviving in two mutually complementary versions.
The first, interrupted in 1226 and begun at the commission of the monks of Montecassino, was intended merely as a continuation of the Annales casinenses, which reached down to 1212, and had as its focus the history of the monastery within the framework of the events of the Kingdom. The second, written by the notanda notans notarius who had entered the service of the emperor Federico II, instead has as its subject the history of the Kingdom in and for itself, of which R. feels and proclaims himself a son; it goes back to the death of Guglielmo II, the ideal and perfect type of sovereign, and breaks off in 1243, the year of R.’s death. The chronicle, written in both versions with equal diligence, precision, and honesty, and interspersed with Latin rhythmic poems by R. himself, is the surest guide to knowledge of the history of Federico II and of the Neapolitan provinces, thanks to the author’s experience of public life and to his opportunity to be well informed through personal and direct knowledge or through official documents, which he willingly inserts in the chronicle: papal and imperial letters or legislative texts, such as the Assizes of Capua and Messina.